Well, it's good to be here this morning. Good to see you here. Thank God that we're free. Amen. Thank God that we're free. Being free, we're awful bound up sometimes, aren't we? Amen. We need the help of the Lord. It's good to see you in this place this morning. Thank God for the privilege, the great honor that it is. One more. He goes Sunday morning to be in his house among his people. The book of Romans, if you'll look with us there, Romans chapter number eight. Got some sick, have several that's vacating. All of our young preachers is all off preaching somewhere. So let's pray for them that the Lord help them and use them. It may still got a good crowd gathered in this place this morning. I thank him for that. Romans chapter number eight, you find your place, go down to verse number 18. Romans chapter eight, verse number 18. Everybody all right? For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. "'cause the creature itself also shall be delivered "'from the bondage of corruption "'into the glorious liberty of the children of God. "'For we know that the whole creation groaneth "'and traveleth in pain together until now, "'not only they, but ourselves also, "'which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, "'even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting, waiting for the, amen, adoption to wit, the redemption of our body. We are saved by hope. Hope that is seen is not hope. What a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. That's all that I'll read this morning. Know that we've already prayed, but help me pray, God would help us. Thank you, Lord, for the privilege. Thank God you give us to be in this house among you people. I need you this morning, Lord. Realize, Father, the crowd's a little awful. Maybe it's a little harder, a little drier, Lord, and drier than normal, but God, if you'll show up, Lord, that's all that we need today is your presence and your power. Thank you, God, for each one that's here. Use us, God, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Sometimes we'll get caught up in being on the mountaintop all the time. It'll throw us off a little bit and things aren't just plumb wild. Ain't that right? A lot of times we'll let folk that we look at on a regular basis and them not be here and wonder what we're gonna do. Well, he's the only one that we've got to have to have church and that's the Lord. And if the Lord's here, honey, we can have church. And if he's not here, it don't matter how many we got, we might as well just pack her up and go home. There'll not be any church, goes on. But Paul here was writing to the church at Rome, and all the way down through this chapter, even at the first part, he was trying his best even to talk to them about the conflict of the spirit and the flesh. There is a war fire that's going on today between the inward man and the outward man. And if there's not a war fire, then you're not safe. But Paul got down in the verse number 18 right after talking, amen, about those that are led by the Spirit and he said, for I reckon, now if there's any grammar police in here this morning, I will not let you fuss at me for saying I reckon, cause Paul did. Amen, he said, for I reckon, amen, amen, that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. So we gotta look at what he was talking about. He was talking about the spirit and the flesh, but he gets down here and if we'll suffer in this flesh for a little while, honey, it will be worth it. It'll be worth it, ever trouble, ever struggle, ever heartache, it'll be worth it at the end of the way. Amen, but I wanna talk to you there going down in verse number 21. He said, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. I wanna talk to you on being bound by corruption. And I know today that as we look around in our present world, in our society, everybody wants to point the finger at somebody else. But I want to tell you, there was corruption before there was ever, ever a Democrat party. There was corruption before there was ever any Republicans. There was corruption before they ever built the White House. Honey, there's been corruption since man fell into sin. And ever since that day, we have been bound by corruption. Even I'm talking about after we've been saved. And our spiritual walk of life, we've got in places where corruption has bound us to where we was no good to ourselves to the Lord. Oh, so listen, I may not be long, and then we may preach all day. I just want to do whatever God wants. But honey, the world is going to do what the world's going to do. We cannot sit as the church and look at the world and blame the deadness in the church on the world, on from the outside when we are to be set apart. A royal priesthood, a peculiar people. The Bible says that evil men and seducers sell. Wax worse and worse. Honey, the world is gonna wax more evil every day. But the church, honey, ought to be a perfect, I've been a joyful, a brother body that belongs to the Lord. The brother preached Wednesday night. Oh, there's one body. Yes, there he is. Amen. They can come from a lot of places, but they'll have one hand. And I'm not up here to browbeat or to talk about anybody else. But there's a lot of places around that's got church on the side that's not in the body that I'm in. There's a lot of places around, honey, amen, that are gathered out this morning, that he's not the head. And if he's not the head, then they're not in the body. Honey, we're bound by corruption in the day that we're living in. We'll talk about a tale of angels. how all he wants money. Amen, I wish everybody was here. Amen, brother, we'll talk about how all he wants is amen, you just send them their money. Honey, we don't have to look on TV to find that. It's in our own county. Amen. God's blessed share is broken. His power's here. But honey, when there gets to be more corruption, then there is God. We'll watch this place dwindle. We'll watch it die. Honey, listen, the world, the church world, is getting bound by corruption. Now, you may disagree with me, But if this place was to burn, if it was to get flooded out, and I went to the school board and said, can Cherithbrook use the high school? They'd say, oh, no. But you look at the garbage that they got up there this morning. Honey, you may not like it, but you'll leave a can of their They're bound by corruption. Oh, listen. Oh, we've come to a day. If a man don't preach, you're sealed no matter what you do. Honey, nobody wants to hear it. They're bound by corruption. But honey, the way of the truth. Oh, set us free. And if we're free, I'm not struggling. It's one of them slow times. Let me tell you what corruption is. Amen. Let me tell you what corruption is, Alan. They'll begin to abuse power. Amen. They'll begin to abuse power. They'll take what's been given to them. Amen. And turn it around. Make the grace of God to none effect. They'll start abusing it. They'll start taking this great liberty that God has given. and be able to stand with their redeemed and say we're blood-bonded and born again. And they'll start abusing it. They'll turn it into something that God never intended for it to be turned into. Honey, that's my flesh and that's your flesh. My mind can take this Bible and make it say whatever I want it to. but it's spiritually written and spiritually discerned and we'll not get anything out of it if we're bound by corruption. Praise the Lord. I'm talking about being bound. It's quiet this morning. being bound by corruption. Well, now, amen, that abuse of power, it's just rolled on over in the private game. Amen. You may preacher, you ought not talk about other churches. Somebody ought to warn our people. I mean, they're tearing down buildings that their congregation can fit in and has fit in. We can't use that no more. We gotta build one to keep up with this and keep up with that. I'd rather this be a woodshed and a sawdust floor and have the power of God as a grand cathedral and it full and no God. and be bound by corruption. Well, thank God. Amen. that private gain. Come on now. I don't know why you're just so quiet this morning. I don't know what I've done. I don't know why it's dragging. But honey, hear me. We'll be bound by corruption and destroy what God has given. I'm talking about me. I'm talking about my flesh. I know my frame. I know who I am. And outside the grace of God, I would kill myself. Amen. That private gain. Look at my pews. Look at my church. If you're doing that stuff. Oh, it thrills my soul. When everybody's here, Todd, and I sit there and I will look at the choir, hey man, you know how bad my flesh wants to say, look at my choir? When my girls get up to sing, do you know how hard it is on my flesh not to say, look at my girls? Amen. When I preach meetings somewhere and the church goes with me and I'm not belittling nobody. Amen, but there's more of us than there is of them. I think, oh, look at my church. Are y'all hearing me? When I go places, amen, that don't have the power that's here. Amen. I preached a meeting a while back. I told you about it. It was dead every night. I told the Lord I can't wait to get back to Charithbrook. I got here that Sunday morning and it was just as dead. We've got to have him. Amen. I can't sit back and say, look at my church and look at my choir. You know what I can do. Look at my God. Look at my Savior. Look at my help. That's why we have what we have. Oh, man, start wanting that private gain. Everybody all right? I ain't preaching wide open. I'm trying to help us. That private gain. Look what we've got. Stamping Jesus down on it. Look what we've got. Look what I've got. Come to a time, Chris, there's more worry about likes and subscribers. Amen. We are the power of God. Go with me. If we ain't got Him, we ain't got nothing. Oh, people have asked me, you ever going to get back to videoing churches that have a YouTube page? I'm going to tell you why we don't. This old carnal thing I live in. I'm gonna tell you why we don't. And if the Lord ever gives me liberty, we'll have one again. I'm gonna tell you why we don't right now. This whole thing right here. Let's get on there and video. Let everybody see how big we are. How many children we God and I heard the Lord speak and say, you ought to let them know that I'm there. Are y'all with me? I mean, listen, it's more than a show. It's more than a crowd. We've got to help the Lord. That's right. Oh, help us, Lord. Whoa, the church world is getting bound by corruption. Amen, that private gain. Amen. I believe now God's got people all over this world. You know what they'll do when they start? Amen, brother, corrupting Joe. Amen, they'll start embezzling. That means you can, somebody can, I'm just gonna use Bill Holder as an example. If I give Bill something, if I give Bill some money and Bill's gonna, Bill said, I'm gonna use it for this. But Bill takes my money and he goes and does what he wants to do with it. Bill is now embezzled what I've given him. Oh, man. Everybody all right this morning? I thank God that there's some good missionaries that'll go here and go there. But we gotta be careful what we do. Come on with me now. As a matter of fact, it ought to start in our own homes, in our own county, in our own church. Come on with me now. Honey, listen. We can't take what God's given us and use it for anything else besides what God's given it for. I'm going to tell you something, and you're going to think that this sounds bad. One Sunday morning at Banks Creek, I was a boy. You go ask daddy, this happened. During Sunday school, a man come in and sit down. Yeah man, daddy went and talked to him. What happened, his baby had died. He didn't have the money to bury it. Needin' the money to bury that baby. Went on a little after that. He said, you can just write me the check. They said, no, we'll just write it to the funeral home. No, you can just write me the check. No, we'll give it to them. Called the funeral home the next day, and his baby had died. Sure it did. Hawcombe brothers don't charge nothing to bury a baby. So here was a man using the death of his own baby for his own personal gain. See, but that boy's lost. That's a lost man. You can't expect lost people not to act lost. Honey, we've come to a time where people say they love the Lord. These people say that God's all that matters. And the brethren told you we've robbed him. We've robbed him. We've robbed him. Oh my, listen, I love you today. But honey, we can't grow if we're bound with corruption. Oh, that's sad. Sad to think about. 25 years ago, or better, I guess. It's worse now. Talking about being bound by corruption. This thing, this is evil, Chris. As much as I like Tim Altree, I believe that Tim's a good man. Everything about you other than the Lord is evil. If we was to be turned over to our own devices, the devil could go to the beach and kick back and stop. If we was to be turned over to our own devices, we would destroy who we are. That's why it says, in all our ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct our paths. Higher on the radio station up here, we used to have a broadcast, was on there for years. I don't know what went on, but I do know every time it come on, it was either slow mode, it was fast forwarded, it got to the point where they wouldn't even play us anymore. I called him, amen, but I promise you if it'd been one of them old dignified fellers, amen, come on with me now. One of them tell you live in your way, honey, we'd still be on there. My papa and my granny, I loved them, but I heard them sit on the back porch and talk about the church. hypocrites in the church. Brother Dunn said it earlier. I believe that hypocrisy is worse than a scoffer because a double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways. Listen, I love you. But when we all go out in the world and there ain't no difference in the church and the world, somebody's bound in corruption. When men that get up here don't have any more standards and morals. Amen, brother. Amen. And the drunk and the whore monger. Honey, we're bound by corruption. There's one reason my papa, amen, had such hard things to say about the church. He had watched men and so-called preachers stand and cuss fight him and argue with him. And he thought, if they got prayer, I got prayer, but I got no sorrow. They'll meet God with blood running off their hands because of the way they live in front of the world. Help us, Lord. I want to be the same all the time. I ain't trying to kill you or beat you up this morning. I'm talking to myself and by saying you. I like to preach wide open. I like to sweat and I like to slobber, but it just ain't that way this morning. Amen. It's so easy to get bound up by corruption. There's people that's left here. Me and Abby was talking about it yesterday. There's people that's left this church that I've seen the power of God on. I've seen them walk with the Lord. Trouble come up in their life. They'd beg and pray and God worked a miracle in their life. And it's like after God moved on it, they've left. What happened, honey, then? You know which one the strongest is? The one that we feed the most. We've got so corrupt, I heard a man say there'd be homosexuals in heaven. Because he took the blame and where it says there'd be two men in the bed, one left and one taken. That's this man and the one on the inside, honey. That's how corrupt we've got. Men will carry a King James Bible, say they serve the same God. Honey, listen, God cannot lie. And if it's wrong for me, it's wrong for you, it's wrong for our neighbor. God ain't changed. Yes, there's one body, but there's one head too. This body's free, Joe. It ain't bound up, it's free. Everybody all right this morning? I wish I could have give you something grand. We could have preached an hour and a half, and I could have left and been empty, but it ain't gonna be that way this morning. But bound by corruption, we ain't careful, we'll sit here on George's fork. with a good church, where the power of God is, and thumb our galluses and say, we've got it all, and be bound up before it's over with. I'm telling you right. Amen to all, please. If you want to go out in the world, live any old way you want to, and act like the world, don't you tell them where you go to church. You're bringing a reproach upon this place. Oh, we ought to strive to live right together. There's things I want to say. I got a sister. You've heard me talk about her. She's going to die and go to hell if things don't happen and things don't change. I was telling Chastity out there the other day, hey, my daddy, she used to, hey, Mother Mary Beth used to grin, used to be happy. I mean, she used to cut up, but now every time you see her, she's just mad at everybody. She's miserable, what happened, honey? She's got bound by corruption. Are y'all with me? Oh, listen, we've got to have the Lord. I've seen Paul Honeycutt stand in his barn. I've seen you at Pigeon Roost in the holler. I've seen you right there. Everywhere I've been with you, Paul, I've seen the tears. You get talking about the Lord and old Paul will cry. But you know the very minute Paul gets bound up in corruption, them tears will dry up. I'm talking to all of us. God, help us to be free. God, help us to be free. I'm done this morning. I'll give you my heart. I want to be free.